Pressing device for garrison cap covers and the like



P. A. LOOMIS April 22, 1952 PRESSING DEVICE FOR GARRISON CAP COVERS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 20, 1950 2 SHEETS--SHEET l M a w F m f c u m n w My m m \\\\a n 7 2 u 0 W: Z

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INVENTOR 201/ LOOWW) BY .W Ai KH P. A. LOOMIS April 22, 1952 PRESSING DEVICE FOR GARRISON CAP COVERS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 20, 1950 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 INVENTOR o m L/ J 2J4 LO 5m ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 22, 1952 TENT F F ICE v PBE$SIN G DEVICE FOR GARRISON CAP COVERS AND THE LIKE Paul A. Loomis, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application January 20, 1950, Serial No. 139,752

4 Claims.

(Granted under the act of March 1883, as amended April 30, 1928 370 0. G. 75.7

The invention described herein, if patented, maybe manufactured and used by .or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to pressing devices for holding washed garrison cap covers and the like durin-gtheironing operation.

Stretchers for holding military cap covers while drying are disclosed in a number of patents, for eXamplaNos. 1,703,398 dated February 26,1929 and No. 2,107,961 dated February 8, 1938. Also it is old to stretch by hand power an oldfashioned beaver or silk hat while subjecting it to steam heat applied on the interior, as disclosed in the McLoughlin Patent No. 388,497 dated August 28, 1888.

However, these prior art constructions do not show a form which is automatically adjustable to different sizes of-garrison caps yet provides an upper ironing surface which is unyielding to the pressure of an iron and permits smoothing of the entire top of the cap cover with the aid of internal heat; nor do'theyshow means for imposing stretching tension automatically, that is, without manual power, foot power, or manually operated screws, toggles, wedges, etc. These desiderata are some of the features of the-preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification.

In said drawings,

Fig. 1 is asectional elevation, showing in phantom the cap cover applied to the form and showing in dotted lines alternative positions of the movable section of the form;

Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the form perse; and

Fig. 3 is a side elevation.

Referring particularly to the drawings, the form includes a base If) which may be of die cast metal or other material and has bores H by which it may be bolted upon a support ['2 such as a table or bench. Secured to the base 10 is a fixed head section which consists of a leg l3 rising from the base, and a hollow head l4 .having a polished flat top surface 15 with a curved or arcuate shape as viewed from above (Fig. 2) subtending an angle of at least 210. The chamber [6 within the head provides a steam space and a pipe I! coupled to the head and to a source of steam pressure (not shown) may conduct steam at about 100 p. s. i. into chamber I 6, thereby to heat the fixed head section when the operator turns the steam on by means of a pedalcontrolled valve or the like (not shown). Another pipe Ha also coupled, t head 1 pro i e a return line for the con ensa .iQIhlQCl rom the steam when the evic is in us em lemental to the fixe head eis a nusable head 20 having a moreor less ilatand enlarged ton 2| wh ch lies i the en al plan of the top surface .5 when th s ng ble he d is upr ghtas in the full line pos tion cf Fi 1..- l swingable head 2,0 is preferab of some sol d material, that is, .it has no provisio .for be n heated internally bysteam- A shown Pie 2 the swin able ,headsubtends a an e o approx mately .1940"- .Beth the vfixed head i an t e in able head 28 are provided w h. overhan ing portions Ma. 2.01; respective y, the pu pos o which is to fit into the flaring portion of a cap cover C, shown in phantom in Fig. 1. To permit the can cover t be aced e er e fla Pe tiens o thehe c sections, the swingable head is swear: to the le t a sho n n dotted in s then t e ewe; is re it e eh a d the h is wu heels un i c n acts t e nt r o the e r t wil h unde s o d t at th m t er ening ire of the cap has been removed prior to washing the cap cover and that it is not replaced until after the ironing has been completed with the ,aid of the described device.

To nount the swingable head to swing as deshed. the lower e d f t able head is shown as having a horizontal bore 22 receiving a r e 3 whi h a o xtends through a P r o aligned bearings or ears 24 integral with and upstanding irom base l0, and a set screw 26 m y se ure t s n a le ea u on he h that the rod acts as a rock shaft. One end of the rod 23 has a right angular .extensionor lever arm 21 which is designed to extend upwardly slightly out'of. the vertical, as shown, when the parts are in normal or operating position. At its u e en lever arm .2 e rr e e m vehle'm te all 18 or ether w ht- Q v en lv the eheule ii ef th l er am m e ar d a Wi b m el loosening the set screw, turning the rod or rock shaft 23 and retightening the screw. The lever arm facilitates manual swinging of the swingable head to permit placing a wet cap cover or removing a freshly ironed one. The angular position of the weighted lever arm also imposes a constant stress or stretch on the fabric of a cover held on the form, which is most desirable when ironing. It will be clear that this stress may be increased by lengthening the moment arm (which is accomplished by merely adjusting the angularity of the lever arm so that it is more nearly horizontal) or else by replacing the ball weight 28 with a heavier weight. It will also be seen that the action is automatic: each time a wet cap cover is placed on the form the latter will expand (because of movement of the swingable head away from the fixed head by the action of the weighted lever) until it engages the cap with equal force on opposite sides. Obviously the swingable head permits the device to be used with all sizes of cap covers. In Fig. 1 the dotted lines at the right indicate the positions of the head and lever arm when a large cap cover is in place on the form.

When using the device, after a cap cover has been positioned, slightly more than one-half of it is ironed by passing an iron or other pressing means over that part which is supported by the fiat surface It; then the cap cover, without removing it from the form, is turned through 180 and the remaining portion is pressed or ironed. The 210 arc of surface 15 permits pressing slightly over one-half of the cap cover at a time, which insures a complete pressing job with only one turn of the cover. The turning is of course effected after loosening the cover by swinging the lever arm inwardly.

' Obviously a number of changes may be made in the described construction without departure from the spirit of the invention. For example the fixed head could be heated internally by electricity instead of by steam; also the swingable head could be otherwise mounted so as to be automatically movable away from the fixed head; or if desired the swingable head could be slidable toward and from the fixed head and moved by a spring instead of a weight. Other simple changes will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

1. A pressing device for garrison cap covers and the like comprising a support; a hollow head fixed-to the support and having a top adapted to form a smooth pressing surface; means including a source of steam for internally heating the fixed hollow head; a movable head shaped complementarily to the fixed head and forming therewith a support for a garrison cap cover; the movable head being pivotally mounted at its lower end on said support near the fixed head; operator-controlled means comprising a lever arm fixed to the movable head for moving the movable head into close proximity to and away from the fixed head; and a weight fixed to the outer end of the lever arm and constituting automatic continuously operating means acting on the movable head to efiect separation of the heads except when the operator moves the movable head toward the fixed head.

2. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein the lever arm also extends through the lower part of the movable head to provide a rock shaft; the base having a pair of ears providing bearings for the rock shaft; the rock shaft being angularly adjustable relative to the movable head so as to adjust the angularity of the lever arm' and hence the length of the moment arm.

3. A pressing form for garrison cap covers and the like comprising a support; a head fixed to the support and extending above it and having a substantially flat smooth top surface subtending an angle of at least 210; said fixed head being hollow and having means connecting its interior with a source of steam, so that a cap cover placed thereon may be heated to a pressing temperature; a movable head mounted on said support and having a top surface shaped complementarily to the top surface of the fixed head and adapted to lie in substantially the same plane; said top surfaces together supporting a garrison cap cover; the movable head being free of any connection with a heat source; operatorcontrolled means to move the movable head toward and away from the fixed head; and automatic continuously operating means to effect separation of the heads except when said operatorcontrolled means overpowers the means for moving the movable head.

4. A pressing device for garrison cap covers andthe like comprising, in combination, a support; a hollow head fixed upon said support and having a top adapted to form a smooth pressing surface; a movable head having a top surface shaped complementarily to'the top of the fixed head so as to form therewith-a holder for garrison cap covers; the lower end of the movable head being pivotally mounted on said support near the lower end of the fixed head so as to swing about a horizontal axis away from the fixed head and in close proximity thereto; operator-controlled means comprising a lever arm fixed to the lower end of the movable head and adapted to swing the movable head; a weight fixed to the outer end of the lever arm; the lever arm being at such an angle relative to the vertical as to provide a moment arm for the weight, said weight and lever together constituting automatic continuously operating means acting on the movable head to effect separation of the heads except when the operator swings the lever in a direction opposite to that in which the lever is swung by said weight; and means for heating the fixed hollow head including the top thereof.

PAUL A. LOOMIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 388,497 McLoughlin Aug. 28, 1888 2,281,546 Berger May 5, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 320,534 Great Britain Oct. 17, 1929 

